On Monday I drove south, picked up Sonya and Nick, and we headed to Palomar Mountain, part of the Cleveland National Forest. We picked a site at the top of Fry Creek Campground, set up camp, and headed off on a couple of small hikes. This is a beautiful area full of huge old oak trees, large lichen-covered boulders, incense cedar, and big cone Douglas fir. We also saw a lot of wildlife including a ton of acorn woodpeckers, mountain bluebirds, squirrels, and lizards. The wildflowers were also fabulous - Humboldt lillies, wild roses, and others.
That evening we had turkey dogs and a new version of s'mores - roasted marshmellows sandwiched between chocolate chip cookies - yummy! It was a pleasant night and the baby even slept through the night without being fed. Well, almost, he woke up once with a loud cry but went back to sleep as soon as I turned on my headlamp - I think he just forgot where he was and got scared
In the morning we went up to the observatory, which until 1993 housed the largest telescope in the world. We got a great tour from the volunteer docent who even let Sonya in behind the lobby to get a picture of the huge telescope. Then we headed to Palomar State Park and toured the Boucher Fire Lookout - which is a unique design - looks more like a lighthouse. Then we headed back down the winding steep road off the mountain and ate at El Rey Mexican Restaurant in Pauma Valley - excellent food!
Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics of Todd Jr's second camping trip - and there are more here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarol/sets/72157630645846000/
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